The 18 Best GPS Trackers for Dogs to Buy in 2019

Say whatever you might about the canine love for freedom, but it’s still outright heartbreaking you’re your dog goes wandering as if you don’t exist. Yes, dogs venture out occasionally and so do cats, even though most felines prefer to stay within the limits of their territory. Nothing would stop your whelp from going on a self-initiated hunt or trailing a peculiar scent, though. If you don’t know it already, simply believe me: living in a rural area with a fast-running breed is just a typical recipe for disaster.

Pet location systems offer you a possibility to track the animal thanks to a miniature device wearable on the collar. You monitor the dog’s routes of movement using a smartphone, iPad, tablet or PC. Some slightly outdated yet still available models operate with a handheld receiving unit.

There are as few as three things to look for in a pet tracker:

correct size matching your dog/cat dimensions;

waterproofness to allow tracking in rain/high humidity;

active tracking feature.

Real Time GPS Trackers for Dogs

While the points above are pretty self-explainable, I’d like to say a couple words about “safezoning”. This one gets you a chance to set a pre-determined geo-zone and notifies you when the pet leaves it. Be aware, however, that safezoning is somewhat similar to active tracking, and therefore consumes a great deal of the battery charge. As useful as it is for escape artists, most pet owners end up not using it or prefer switching manually to the active tracking mode.

The tracker’s physical unit is very small – just one and a half inches in length – and weighs up to an ounce. It suits most collars up to one inch in width wide and attaches quite easily and reliably. GPS and 3G are of the highest importance for determining the location of your quadruped friend – no SIM card is ever required for this model.

Waterproof level IP6 to counteract the effect of wet/rainy environments

Permanent technical support with warranty and keys

If you live in the mountains or any other distant regions with a headache of a wide roaming pet, this Pemorn will greatly help you keep your dog put and safe. This device is believed to be one of the best pet tracker models that are also suitable for use with elderly people or children, as well as other family valuables.

A competent tracker that will also give you hand with training your dog. The Link AKC promptly reports on the activity of your furry family member; you can discourage the dog from certain unwanted behaviors (like dining in a dump) with your voice via the audio monitor.

This one, actually, doesn’t require cell phone tethering to be found. Use the app to position the tracker via 4G network and GPS. Its live tracking option expires in 10 minutes and then needs to be turned on again, which increases the battery run time.

It is quite surprising to see a digital fence alarm trigger in an item this cheap. Still, it works and allows you to determine a permitted area for your dog, outdoor cat, and similar medium sized pets. While imposing no distance limits, the SZFY-TAIOW enables multiple people to monitor and search for the pet with a single account.

Another simple-to-use and fast-to-adjust collar tracker. Important! The company sends you the black collar by default; you’ll need to pay extra $2 USD to get to choose a color. Otherwise, it’s very nice – you can tell it’s IPX6 waterproof thanks to the rubber plug used to cover the USB charger port.

More of a key finder than something else; still, you can go with it further than a purse, phone or key ring, and attach the thing to your pet’s collar or your child’s backpack. The tracker ensures the safety of the monitored animal/person by either giving you their coordinates on request or maintaining a security zone.

For those who like to access their pet’s activity history, this Hangang device will be of great service in keeping the pet safe and healthy. To be honest, 50 g of weight is not exactly ultra-light in my book, so I wouldn’t recommend using it with small breeds. This model offers several subscription plans, the price starting from $5 a month.

Beafup promises to turn your pet’s schedule in a precise science. In addition to measuring the distance your pet makes over the day, it also calculates the calorie consumption. The dog GPS collar boasts a quick charging technology, providing you with up to 5 days in the power saving mode with just one hour of getting completely charged.

Here we have real-time monitoring of your dog’s location plus mapping out of their walk routes. It helps you gather the necessary activity information; bear in mind, though, that it’s mostly optimized for walks and not that much for indoor tracking. The pieces get easily adjusted to your good boy/girl’s collar, with the Guardian unit being small enough to accommodate in your pocket.

Rather than aim at finding each and every small thing, this 3G/GPS tracker comes for pets only. Its loveable paw-shaped design is water-resistant at the IP66 level. Its geo-fence feature is handily adjustable in that you can set up tracking by time intervals.

Despite its rather weird name, this tracker device does a good job of finding your wandering canine/feline friends. An even more useful function of the locator is called the separation mode. With its help, you’ll get a notification each time your keys/wallet get too far apart from your phone with the locator app.

In case of the TabCat, today’s favorite RF-based location technology receives an improvement. As opposed to other non-GPS trackers, this product is enabled with an enhanced range; it also has a peculiar color-coded system that changes the light from red through yellow to green to indicate the distance to your lost pet/belongings.

The 4 Pack Smart is one of those short-range trackers that particularly come in handy if your dog fancies straying away during walks, becoming unresponsive to calls. Indoors and outdoors, the device tracks as far as 33 ft and 75 ft, respectively. The tracing app tethers with up to eight key finders at once, which is sure great for wiring up your entire house.

When you tend to have a lot of precious things missing, including your wallet, dog or kid, this is the anti-lost device just for you. It won’t help with tracking on great distances since 100-150 feet is its absolute maximum. However, this could be more than enough for your house and backyard, whereas the location record feature will allow you to create your own (treasure) map of your whole household.

A multifunctional collar compatible with the PRO 70 and PRO 550 handhelds. It offers you the full dog-training package with its BarkLimiter, remote-operated LED beacon, and audio control. Not exactly a GPS collar for dogs, though; anyway, you’re welcome to find your dog by the audio/visual indicator. You can also turn the shock feature off when you don’t need it.

Do you actually know if your pet eats enough? How much jumping, running, and playing around does he/she do during the day? The Poof Pea Pet keeps you updated on the number of calories burnt; you’ll have a choice between the tracking pea and tag to ensure the best fit with your pet’s collar/belt.

This product by Tractive combines GPS with the light beacon/beeper features to pinpoint the whereabouts of your pet in an open area. It may not show your escapee very precisely on a greater distance but still, it will locate it reliably with the immense coverage. You’ll also get a log file with the locations visited.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a GPS tracker for dog and how does it work?

A GPS tracker is a miniature electronic device that allows you to keep your dog under continuous observation as long as it stays in the area covered by GPS, which includes almost all inhabited localities and a large percent of wild areas. A GPS chip periodically communicates with the nearest satellites, acquiring positioning data and comparing it with the predetermined control parameters. Not only can you track your pet whenever you want but also get visual/audio alarm signals once it leaves the chosen safe area. It employs a small battery, as a rule, and therefore requires replacement occasionally.

Is dog microchip tracker safe?

Chipping is 100% harmless. The insertion procedure is fast and painless, with no risks of transmitting a disease or causing inflammation. The chips are sterile, non-sensitizing and very small (it is actually smaller than a thumbnail), so they aren’t likely to cause any discomfort. The skin in the area may be swollen for a couple of days; that’d be pretty much all the negative outcomes of the operation. Overall, microchipping your pet is no more dangerous than trimming his/her toenails.

How to put a dog tracker on a phone?

Most monitoring devices come with applications suitable for iPhone/ iPad or Android phone. When the tracking system has been activated, find and install the appropriate app (usually, links leading to specialized online stores can be found in the instruction). Next, check your system requirements in order to make sure the software is fully compatible with your phone. Check whether you grant it access to all the functions, including alerts (signals or email notifications), maps or even health monitors.

How do dog chips work?

Microchips are small magnetic chips that are inserted right under the dog’s skin and stay there forever. A chip like this contains information about your pet so that it can be easily identified in case he/she runs away. It’s similar to a standard identification tag except that it cannot be lost or stripped off by thieves. Almost all veterinarian clinics have scanners and perform routine checks of all their furry patients. In a manner like this, a lost dog can be identified in mere minutes and returned to its rightful owner.

Conclusion

As you can see, the number of pet tracking devices available on the market really makes you spoilt for choice. Selecting one is not difficult as long as you keep your dog’s behavior in mind. Don’t go for anything too fancy or too heavy for a hyperactive runner/chaser/swimmer because you might end up losing both the device and your pet.

5 Responses

This is an absolutely amazing pro and con list for different dog GPS trackers! I just recently got a new puppy and she tends to run off because we don’t have a fenced in yard. We’re trying to work on getting her to stay in our yard. This list was so useful in helping me find a good GPS tracker.

Becoming a new dog mom is so stressful! I’m so glad I came across your site, it has so much great information and it’s designed to be easily understood. I have been trying to prepare for getting a new dog because I don’t have a great fenced in yard and I don’t live near a dog park so I might need to get a good GPS tracker.

I know that if I get a pup again they’ll definitely have one of these. I tend to prefer cats for apartments, because the dogs I’ve had in the past have needed so much space, and tended to run off. I love the idea of GPS tracker to make sure we can find them at all times. I’ve had such a hard time with pups getting out and running off in the past. Getting one of these guys would make me feel so much more safe.

Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I have truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!

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